[Surgery for bronchiectasis. Operative indications and results. 48 observations].

Forty-eight patients: 27 women and 21 men, with mean age of 36 +/- 14 years were operated on for bronchiectasis from 1976 to 1989. In 20 cases bronchiectasis was the sequelae of acute bronchopathy of childhood, 6 cases of tuberculosis and 5 cases of inhalated foreign bodies. The bronchiectasis was apparently primitive in 12 occasions. Five varied etiologies were found of which 2 congenital hypogammaglobulinemias. The anatomic extension of the lesions was precised in 47 cases by bronchography and CT scan in 6 cases, in 1 case with CT scan only. The lesions were bilateral in 5 cases. One pneumonectomy, 42 lobectomies (of which 10 bilobectomies) and 5 segmentectomies were performed. The operative mortality was nil. The morbidity (14 cases among 48, i.e. 29%) was not negligible and was comparable with the literature data. The evalued results for 36 patients (mean post-operative follow-up: 54 +/- 58 months) showed that 24 patients (67%) were asymptomatic, 34 have taken their normal professional activities.